If you ever need to make a whole bunch of rice at one time and you don't own a rice cooker, it's going to be okay. You can use your crockpot slow cooker as a rice cooker.This is the way to use your crockpot as a rice cooker -- it's not hard and these are the instructions.[originally posted during my A Year of Slow Cooking challenge.]

Day 64.

What if you need to cook a whole bunch of plain rice and don't have an available stove burner? What if you don't own a rice cooker? What if you decided to cook in your crockpot every single day for a year and were feeling rather full of stew and soup?

You could make rice. Plain, old, perfectly steamed rice. In your crockpot.

The Ingredients:

These are the quantities used in a 1 to 2 quart slow cooker. I use this one -- if you have a larger crockpot, multiply the quantities.For a 4 quart, multiply everything by 2 -- double it.For a 6-quart, multiply everything by 3 -- triple it.CrockPot Slow Cooker Rice1.5 quart recipe1 tablespoon butter

1 cup white basmati rice (I'm listing this kind because that is what I used. I would imagine that any kind of white or brown rice would work, but I haven't actually tried any other out yet.) (updated: read comment section below for other varieties tested)

2 cups water

pinch of salt

The Directions:

-- rub butter on the inside of your crockpot stoneware

-- put in rice

-- stir in water and salt

-- cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours, checking every 45 minutes or so.

I cooked the above batch for 2 hours, 15 minutes and checked on it twice.

The Verdict:

Fluffy, lovely rice. I'm interested in trying this with larger quantities of rice and with different varieties.

68 comments:

So what happens if you guys want to go on vacation or your internet is down? How will we survive?

Question: I've been craving corn chowder. Or perhaps it's potato chowder. I had it once somewhere and it was so dang delicious. My neighbor gave me a Fix It and Forget It book to use with my crockpot...there is a recipe inside, but I wondered if you had a tried and true recipe you'd like to share? Any tips for me?

Thanks for this tip! I had no idea that rice could be cooked in my slow cooker! You rock! I've got some Swedish meatballs in there right now. But I totally cheated and bought the pre packaged slow cooker meal! I'm so sorry! :)

Question - what size crock pot did you use? I crocked up some chicken recently and tossed rice in at the last hour or two. It is a 6 quarter, and I put in 1.5 cups rice in with the chicken. A few hours later I had rice paste.

If I put in what you directed, only, into this large pot, would it not burn up/off/out?

Should I halve it and put it in my 1.5 quarter?

Should I just do meatballs and float a glass (oven save) bowl in it with water and rice to "slow steam" alongside yet separate from the meatballs?

I have had the paste before, too. I think it's because of the proportions. Rice seems to need exactly the right amount of liquid for it to cook properly. If you have 1 cup of rice, you need 2 cups of liquid, etc. It totally stinks when you're just trying to soak up the liquid at the end of a cooking cycle and you mis-eyeball the proportions.

My brain is not getting the meatball question. You have frozen meatballs and you want to cook them in the rice? If so, I'd imagine that putting them in with the proper rice proportions in the large oval would be fine.

I hope that helped some! You are more than welcome to keep asking questions here or to email me at crockpotlady AT gmail DOT com

No, I have some fresh meat to turn into meatballs; I suppose I could do frozen as well.

I'm just thinking meat and veg, with enough water to submerge them. Also but not submerged, a separate container with the right amount of rice and water. Together, but separate.

I totally do submerge cooking, otherwise I get tough meats, right? Or burned meats? I leave the house super early and am gone nearly 12 hours - I'd like to not have the fire department calling just because I'm crocking up dinner.

Well, I am home today; I can try both ways. Submerged meatballs with a container of rice in, and my teeny crock (or even the big one!) with just rice.

Is your crockpot relatively new? Does it have a glass lid? If you aren't home all day to check on your meat, all the condensation will stay in the dish, and you do not need to add very much liquid at all to tenderize the meat and have it cook properly. For a pot roast, for example, I'd put it in with only about 1/2-3/4 cup of liquid. The meat tastes the best when it cooks in it's own juices.

If your crockpot is cooking too fast, or the liquid is bubbling even on low, give Rival a call. You might need a different machine. Their on-call people are awesome.

as for cooking raw meatballs, I haven't done it. I did do turkey meatballs back in Jan, but pre-cooked them.

I was getting ready to try brown rice, and see you already tried the rice thing (months ago!).

I found someone else who said 4 cups water to 1 cup brown rice for 3 hours on high. I used 2 cups rice and 8 cups water. That worked out great (yea!) using my small 4 quart one (plastic lid - it's probably 12 years old if it matters...which it appears it may)

Seriously, I was t-h-i-s close to buying a rice cooker, and now I don't have to. Yea! (again)

Bless you! I have checked out this site a few times and today I want all of my dinner prepared and have spent 20 minutes trying to find someone to tell me how to cook my rice in the slow cooker. You have saved me so time in a hot kitchen!

You know, the last thing I tried in my slow cooker was rice...and it was a disaster! After 2 hours, the rice was still crunchy. Then, all at once, it exploded into starch pie! It was absolutely hilarious, actually. So jiggly!

Well, I do have a rice cooker and I rather like the little guy. Takes only a short time, and I can't wait for that Basmati rice to get done! By the time it is done, I am there with the butter, Tone's Cajun seasoning, bowl and large spoon!I am lucky as I love Basmati rice and it is ok to eat with the glycemic index program.

Looking forward to trying the rice.Re the meatballs - I never pre-cook mine - just drop them into the sauce, make sure they are covered and cook. I usually make my own meatballs - if I buy bought ones I cook them a little longer because they are usually firmer (and so take longer to be cooked all the way through). I usually cook on low for 7-8 hours.I think cooking the meatballs in the sauce is much nicer - you get all the flavour that way!

I realize this doesn't involve using a crockpot, and may not produce rice that is on par with what comes out of a rice cooker or crockpot, but just throw my rice in a corningware glass bowl with a little salt and a ratio of 1 cup of water per 1/2 cup rice, and cook on high and uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. It comes out just fine for me! And it's fast!

I am trying to make rice using my 1.5 quart crock pot. It is the brown with white insert and has low and high setting although it seems to cook fast on the high setting. Last night I tried twice to cook rice in it and both times threw out a mushy paste! I used Mahatma long grain rice, 1 cup and 2 cups water. Cooked on high for 2 hours. Rice was not hard, but also not edible! Any suggestions on how to get it to come out fluffy instead of mush?

oh no! It sounds like you have more moisture/humidity in your rice and in the air than I do, or that the Mahatma brand of rice isn't quite as hard as the rice that I happened to use.

You might want to try cutting back on the amount of water, or you may want to check on the rice earlier, and leave the lid off for a while if it looks like the rice is completely cooked, but lots of moisture is remaining.

I hate it when things don't work out, and I hate wasting food. Hopefully you were able to stir in some milk, sugar and cinnamon and have a rice porridge for dessert!

I tried this for the first time today and it worked wonderfully. I did cook more than you did...I have a large family and want to freeze some for future meals.

I used 3 cups of long grain white rice and 6 cups of water. Cooked on HIGH for about an hour and half..stirring twice and fluffing at the end. When I stirred it the last time, I brought all the rice on the bottom up to the top and vented it to cool.

BTW, my crockpot is a few years old and has a glass lid. It's a big one...not sure what size.

just wondering about cooking a meal that includes rice... I''m always cooking meatballs and rice (beef meatballs, with cream of mushroom soup for a sauce, and rice. my oven just died last week and I am trying to find ways of cooing things I normally cook in the oven... generally use a combination of white and brown long grain

Made quinoa in the crock pot today--like spanish rice:)..I just had some and it was fluffy and yummy and not over cooked! sauted green onion, garlic, red pepper then added quinoa..buttered crock-1 c washed quinoa, 2 cups broth, 1/4 t salt, paprika on top, low for 3 hours. It will go great with crock pot sweet & sour chicken!

I think it would work in a tiny crock pot, but mine seems to only have one (extra hot) setting, so maybe you'd have to stick around to watch it. But really, just go ahead and make more rice than you need--it freezes & reheats VERY easily!

I was inspired reading the comment for the quinoa above, but went with a maylasian twist instead. I just put in a batch of brown rice (1 cup rice/4cups water) with a packet of powdered coconut milk and a couple of taro/tarey leaves from the frozen section of the local asian market. Oh wow--it smells wonderful already!

I made brown rice in the slow cooker and it turned out great. Very moist. I made a large batch. 4 cups of brown rice to 9 cups water. about 2 1/4 cups to 1 cup brown rice. I cooked it on high for about 4 hours. I stirred it every 1 1/2 hours. It is key to turn off the crock pot after 4 hours and let it set. It turned out great.

Our family tried this last night! We used brown rice. We did the 1 cup rice to 2 cup water and I really don't know how long it took as we literally 'fixed and forgot'. It was about 2 to 3 hours. We used a 6 Quart Crockpot and just kept putting rice and water in there until it was 3/4 full. We also added some onion flakes, granulated garlic, kosher salt flake and diced green pepper. The evening got crazy as my Husband's schedule is never the same; so when it was 'time' for dinner everyone was still busy so I turned off the crock. At that time the water was absorbed into the rice and I was only concerned with not burning it. Nice way to cook rice during a busy day. I want to cook some ahead to have in freezer for quick stir fry nights! Thanks so much!

I have a friend who cooked large amts of rice, then put portions in freezer in ziplocs. Easy stirfry/soup additions!! This crockpot rice cooking idea looks too needy for attention, the exact opposite of what I use that thing for.

I used this "guide" last week when I made stir fry. I use a tiny little crock pot (called Mommy's TLC here), a cheap one I bought 2 years ago for less then 30 bucks at walmart, and this works out just fine. My only complain was the quality of the rice sucked- because I only had bad quality rice on hand at the time.

I'm dying to try this, as well as glutinous rice! My stovetop has started playing up so I need to find alternative ways to cook rice for my kids' sushi. Do you know whether I would be able to throw 1 cup of rice into a regular ceramic/glass bowl within my slow cooker insert, and thus separating it from whatever else might be cooking inside the slow cooker insert?

When we are on vacation we usually get a room that has a mini kitchen and a slow cooker is a perfect travel companion. Doing this saves a while bunch of money with not eating dinner out and my two little (fussy eater) girls get one "home cooked" healthy meal a day. Taking a slow clooker on vacation is a great idea.

I put in 4 cups of water to 1 cup of whole grain brown rice, I smeared the margarine on the bottom of the crockpot. After 4 hours on high and about 1/2 hour with the power off it came out perfect. I did fluff it up the last 30 minutes. It actually came out better than in my rice cooker. Will definitely do it again.

I tried this recipe this morning, and I am a happy camper. I have a glass cooktop, and it stays too hot to cook rice. I am so glad to have found a different way to cook rice--that actually works!! My weekly menu is forever changed.

Don't use Water Maid medium grain rice. I just did & it doesn't come out light & fluffy. The taste was ok, but the texture was very soft & no individual grains, all stuck together. It took 2 hrs in a small crockpot. I would try this again, but only with the basmati like the recipe calls for.

Was just gonna try cooking basmati rice in the crock pot as my stove has died (going on about a week without stove/oven now)Making Butter chicken in my electric skillet, but needed to figure out what to cook my rice in. I usually do it on the stove top.Glad to have found this :)

I knew that slow cooker rice *must* be possible, and I will be trying this over the weekend. I like that it might produce a sticky or semi-sticky rice. My usual rice recipe is in the same proportions (with boiling water - very important!) baked covered in the regular oven at 425 for 20-25 minutes. I've not tried microwaving as some here have, so I might also give that a try. And - yeah - I'm a Basmati-lover, too :>)

Good post !I had twenty cups to cook, in hindsight I should've cooked no more than ten at a time. Ten cups of rice is much more manageable than twenty and makes finding an appropriate sized pan more likely as well.Thanks!

Hi Unknown, if your little guy has a timer, then sure. Otherwise put the little insert in a big slow cooker with the timer. I can't in good conscience recommend you leave a non programmable on all day.